Inspiring travel one pin at a time.

It may seem silly to provide reasons to visit the Dominican Republic. With its balmy weather and pristine beaches, it takes little more than a photo to convince travelers to go there. Like so much of the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic can often seem interchangeable with other island destinations. The same resorts, same buffets, same…

Buffets and banana boats.

If asked to recall my first visit to the Dominican Republic, my answer is not flattering. I had traveled to the Dominican Republic last year expecting to discover the country and instead spent the next few days rotating on my beach towel like a rotisserie chicken.   While staying at an…

It’s the verdant foliage that first catches my eye as I walk up the white steps of the Casa Colonial Boutique Hotel in the Dominican Republic. Delicate orchids seem to drip from every corner of the property as though the staff ransacked a greenhouse.   Red tiles and blindingly white verandas—a nod to the…

When it comes to writing a story about a past trip, I usually start by taking a breath and transporting myself back to the destination. What did it feel like? What were the smells? What were the sounds? What were the locals like? I reach back in time to when I was in a…

I had been to Jamaica once before but the memories of that trip are hazy and few and far between. Like looking into a kaleidoscope, that first trip comes in fragments-my now 18 year old sister, back then a baby floating in her one piece bathing suit. My parents laying on the beach while…

It’s mid afternoon in Jamaica and the weather witching hour is upon us as the once spotless sky shifts dramatically to stormy weather. I am driving up a dirt road that precariously wraps itself around Free Hill; it is the type of steep drive that seems to climb up forever past lush vegetation, colorful…